Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
Check,
- Delta's profitability does not directly benefit us. It only benefits us if we do Delta's flying. We desire Delta to be profitable, but it is more important to us that we do the flying.
- It is questionable whether Delta's outsourcing has done Delta any good. I believe a compelling case can be made that Delta's 30 billion dollar RJ effort has been a miserable failure. If the money was in RJ's, Comair would be worth a fortune.
- Whipsaw can not be isolated to just "regional" carriers. Look at NWA's pre merger DC-9 rates and our own small jet rates. Our MD88's are in direct competition with CRJ and ERJ Types for route allocation.
- Scope is far from being just a junior issue. You're right at the spot where anything from E170's flying to UIO to an change in the SkyTeam agreement could effect you.
Most importantly, how much flying can we give up and still be relevant at the bargaining table? 20%, 50%, 70%?
If I went in to the C.P.'s office with a list of demands, I would be laughed at and fired. If YOU, I and the APC Board participants went to the C.P. with the same list, we'd be listened to, there would be some discussions, then we'd be fired. If every Delta pilot set the parking brake until the demands were met, the demands would be complied with nearly instantly.
You know that is how a union works. As unity erodes, so does our power.
So I ask you, which union will get you more off what you want?
- You by yourself
- You and me and a couple of dozen others
- 20% of Delta's pilots
- 50% of Delta's pilots
- ALPA, the exclusive bargaining agent for 100% of Delta's pilots
I've no problem with what you have written, in fact your candor is appreciated. From you, your opinion is completely acceptable. My union is held to a different standard. They've got a job to do and unity is at the core of their responsibility.
Excellent point and post Bar.
To also respond to Check
True to a point, but many are starting to realize that Scope is not just small jets, it is also that 777-300ER and 380 that Air France flies to our two biggest hubs. It is the flying that Alaska does, It is the flying that DCI does, it is the flying that KAL is undercutting in Asia. All of it matters.
As for the 76 seat flying, I will not state that we should or should not get what is out there back. DAL has finacial commitments that I know we would have to be on the hook for. I also agree that most prefer to get a pay raise versus a 76 seat jet they will never fly. What will state we need to do is sunset these agreement so that the limits are lowered as the contracts expire. It is a low/no cost option that lets DAL honor their commitments, gradually return the flying to mainline, and allows our pilots to fly the next get of jets, with no regard to its size. We as a pilot group also need to be economically savvy enough to realize that by outsourcing we allows a dynamic change in the economics of every jet. To have a any effect in reversing that, you need to control the supply It our case that is pilot jobs in jets flown with the DAL and Skyteam code.
The best way to do this is what I outlined above. The Rat jets as many call them are becoming totally obsolete, and they need to be replaced. To date there is not a replacement for those. Now is the time to act and with a sunset agreement, it costs noting because we are not buying flying currently being performed. We are restoring flying after a contract has expired, or has become amendable. As a you know from your legal experience, these types of contracts expire, unlike ours. I have run across the smattering of WB A's that think like you purport, but most know that scope is not for sale. They are also really on board with the idea of a sunset clause. It is something they can and will sign on to.